WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness that’s causing increasing disquiet in the Pacific. Kishida said the two leaders spent a “significant amount” of their 80-minute call on issues surrounding China, including shared concerns about China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan. China claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. In recent months, China has stepped up military exercises near Taiwan, frequently sending warplanes near the island’s airspace. Biden and Kishida also discussed the situations in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang province. Biden has repeatedly called out Beijing over its crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong and forced labor practices targeting China’s Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.Shand could not be immediately reached for comment.